Dates of Interest

Dec. 23—

Early Dismissal

Dec. 25—

Christmas

Jan. 1—

New Years

Jan. 2—

Back to School

The Exeter Express

T h e o f f i c i a l n e w s p a p e r o f t h e E x e t e r J u n i o r H i g h S c h o o l

December 2013

Budgets Hurt-

ing Sports?

2

Advice Column 3

Facebook 3

Hunger Games 4

Favorite Color 4

Slang 5

Cartoon 5

Letters to San- 6

Droid vs. Apple 6

Inside this issue:

By Chase Trapani The holiday season is the time of year to spend time with family and to be thank-ful for what one has. Many people go on vacations with their families to places far from home. I, like many other people, can't seem to find the appeal in this. The holi-day season is best spent at home.

First, who would want to miss waking up and running down stairs to open their presents? Certainly one would feel out of place in the Bahamas tanning while they could be having a snowball fight, drinking hot chocolate, and doing other winter ac-tivities, at home. Also, traveling during the holidays is a nightmare. With many other people crowding the airports and having huge traffic jams on the roads, wouldn't it be much easier just to stay home and spend quality time with family?

For those who have pets, the idea of vacationing might be even harder. Pet owners would not only have to pay the regular costs of travel, but additional pet fees, or if they are leaving their pets at home, they must pay for their pet to be looked after. Similarly, the holidays can be confusing enough, then add traveling to the mix, and there's a recipe for catastro-

phe. This is especially true when the ser-vices being used, such as the airport, blunders with luggage, tickets, seating, etc.

Home is where the heart is. The fond memories one can make, especially dur-ing the holidays, are priceless and can make a home very sentimental. To recap, vacationing during the holiday season can be frustrating, confusing, costly, and very inconvenient. The holidays are no time for vacationing, so enjoy the them at home

Home for the Holidays

By Valerie Kuczynski The holiday season is here! The best way to boost your holiday spirit is to par-ticipate in the winter scavenger hunt. Snowflakes are hidden all around the school hallways. Make sure to keep your eye out for a snowflake.

Prizes are given out for those who find one (only one prize per person, so if you find more than one, please leave it so oth-ers can find it). Once you get one, go to room 225 (Mr. Myers) before or after school to receive your prize. Good luck and Happy Holidays!

A picturesque winter scene at home.

Photo by Emeri Goldstein

Winter Scavenger Hunt

Too Many Limits Hurting Exeter Athletes?

By Tanishka Talagadadeevi

As many people know, our economy is not in the best shape, and Exeter is an example of a place where money has become an issue in some areas. Exeter has been forced to make some budget cuts. Many think that certain cuts, like on sports, are unnecessary. Sports are a huge part in the American culture. Based off of recent ESPN surveys, over half of American children play a sport by the age of 8.

With different people come different opinions, but athletes are upset. English and Writing Workshop teacher, Mrs.Bukowski, says that as of now "During school, we have what we need, we just don't get extra activities, like field trips." Our district is more privi-leged with our school supplies than other districts, even though the back to school list keeps growing every year.

But is our sports department getting the lower hand? Mr. Myers, EJHS football coach and computer applica-tions teacher, says that there are things sports teams aren’t able to be provided anymore, like “new uniforms and equipment.” Sports teams aren't getting new uni-

forms and for many different sports, the players must provide some of their own equipment.

One student says that "The condition of my uniform was awful; my number was ready to fall off." Not only that, but parents and players have also been complain-ing that due to the limited spots on teams, eventually

even the good players aren't going to be picked. One stu-dent says, “After practicing countless hours for a sport you have a love for, being rejected is like a big stab in the heart. It doesn’t feel good and it doesn’t make athletes want to continue playing.”

On top of the budget that sports teams have been giv-en, the activity fee, the fee paid when a student wants to

participate in a club or sport, has been raised to $80. It might

not be a huge difference, but it’s a step in a direction most people do not want to go in. Although Exeter resi-dents are very lucky with their privileges, most athletes aren’t impressed. Exeter athletes are upset with the conditions that they’ve being placed under. After talking to many different people, a large majority of them want a change, big or small.

Play photos by Maggie Trexler

Q: I don’t have a lot of money to spend on presents for Christ-mas. Any ideas?

A: The best gifts are the ones that are homemade. It may sound cheesy but it is true. Try making candies, cookies or even a nice ornament. Also, you can make a meaningful card or a poem. Presents can still be very nice even if you are on a budget. Remember it is the thought that counts, not how much money you spend. -Charlie

Q: Every year, I make New Year reso-lutions and end up breaking them within the first week. I want this New Year to be different. What should I do for this New Year?

A: You might be setting yourself up to fail before you begin. Perhaps your resolutions are not realistic or achievable. Keep it simple and make a list. If you choose one resolutions at a time you may be able to accomplish it easier. After you’re finished with one move onto another and continue on with that previous goal. But make sure you do not overwhelm yourself. Go for it and start off the New Year with a blast! - Charlie

Q: There is a girl that sits at my lunch table that never brings her lunch and always asks me for my food. She says she doesn’t have money to buy lunch either. She is constantly making ex-cuses. This has been going on for a while now and I feel bad so I give her food. The problem is I’m still hungry after sharing my lunch. What should I do?

A: First of all, it is kind of you to share you lunch, but it is your lunch and it is a daily problem. Tell her you need to eat your whole lunch so you won’t be hungry, suggest she pack a lunch or ask her parents for lunch money. If this continues, tell her the school offers a program for free or reduced lunches. Suggest she talk with her guidance counselor or parents. Be strong and don’t let her take advantage of you. -Charlie

Ask Charlie

By Valerie Staab

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, talking to people, showing pictures, nothing bad, right? Wrong! Facebook and other social media are great sites to chat with friends and keep up with old pals, but there are also some really bad downsides to it. Viruses, hacking, ru-mors - anything can happen when sharing personal in-formation online comes into play.

Facebook can be great! There are fun games, chat boxes, and there’s even options to upload videos and pictures. Some fun games include; Candy Crush, Drag-on City, and Bubble Witch Saga! In addition, Facebook also has all these addicting games on tablets and mo-bile devices free to download. Chatting with old friends on Facebook is easy. Opening a chat box is just as easy as clicking your mouse! Also, you can create group chats so everyone can hear the conversa-tion. Videos and pictures can be hilarious, cute, or even sad. They’re great ways to add visual aids to statuses and locations. There are some pictures, videos, and chats on Facebook, however, that shouldn’t be viewed by younger persons, but all Facebook users should be at least 13. All in all, Facebook is a great place to have fun and catch up with anyone at least 13!

On the other hand, Facebook can be a very bad place. Some links contain viruses, some people fake their ages, and sometimes information is sent to anyone who wants to see it! In my personal experience, I have seen links containing viruses that try to access my Face-book account. These can access your personal infor-mation, such as addresses, phone numbers, and family members. In addition, these are especially vulnerable to users under the age of 13. Younger users tend to click on links unaware of the dangers that could await them. They are also less likely to check that information is set to ‘private’. Younger users can also be exposed to inappropriate content, hurting them for the future and changing their perspectives. If information is not set to private, anyone can access anything that they want to see. They can spread rumors, use secrets against us-ers, and even impersonate them! Facebook and other social media needs to be taken seriously and people should think about what they post online.

Personal information should not be shared with the public, it is only the users right to know, and people need to think wisely about what they post and how much they post. Also, parents need to be involved, much to the youth’s dismay, to what they do online. In summary, Facebook is a great website to go on, but being safe is a must.

Facebook: Good or Bad?

By Marah Hoffman and Devon Lewars

After interviewing students, staff, teachers, and even some cheerleaders from the high school we found Exe-ter’s true colors . Our very own school color ended up being the favorite color, blue! The least favorite color was a tie between pink and yellow. Mr . Flamm and Mr. Arty’s favorite color is green, eagle green to be exact. Sorry Mrs. Hess, but purple didn’t win.

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Elise Kohler

This November many movies were put into theaters. With Delivery Man, Fro-zen, Ender’s Game, and Book Thief all being released, it must have been hard for Catching Fire to come out on top. However; with an earning of $160.6 million in its opening weekend, it topped the charts.

For those of you who don’t know what Catching Fire is, it is a widespread phe-nomenon based on the second book in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. In Catching Fire, the main character, Katniss Everdeen played by Jen-nifer Lawrence, has just fought 24 people to the death of all but two, her and Pee-ta, defying the Capitol’s rules of only having only one victor. She is returning to her district to find terrible surprises awaiting. Now with the Quarter Quell quickly approaching, Katniss, Peeta Mellark, played by Josh Hutcherson, and Haymitch Abernathy, played by Woody Harrleson, are anxious for the days to come. All knowing that if they get thrown back into The Games, only one will come out.

Many students and teachers, have seen and raved about this movie. Mr. Myers, one of our school’s computer apps teachers said, “I loved it. Catching Fire was my favorite book in the series and the movie was also my favor-ite.” He also said that Katniss had a change in attitude during this movie. “I think she started to see that keeping the status quo was not going to work.” Mr. Myers recommend watching The Hunger Games before going to see Catch-ing Fire.

Valerie Kuczynski , an eighth grade student in our school, shared that she would rate this movie five out of five stars. “The arena looked exactly how I pictured it!” she said. Val also commented that Suzanne Collins depiction of the future could come true, due to the fact that in other countries many people do not have food and they may re-sort to things depicted in the Hunger Games for a way of getting the food they need. Valerie recommended that if you plan to see this movie you may want a box of tissues handy.

With romance, action, sci-fi, sadness, and a cliffhanger ending, all mixed into one movie, it's a wonder how any-one will be able to wait to see part one of the two part finale in 2014!

Hungry for The Hunger Games

Buddy the Elf, What is Your Favorite Color?

By Michaela Dungan

“What’s crack-a-lackin’ dawg?” “Yo home-slice!” No, we don’t use these terms today in literal speaking, un-less you want to be seen as a little odd, but we have in the past. Instead we’d say, “Oh, kill’em” , “swag” , “hashtag” , or “selfie” because that is the “cool” term to use nowadays. The culture that we have been brought up in has shaped us into the people we are today and what we like to do.

The language in which we speak today is very differ-ent from what our grandparents were brought up with. We talk freely about scandals and other celebrity things, but in the past, each person had a separate, se-cret life. Words and terms we use today confuse elders and their “oh, so important” meaning in our daily life now. Did you know that the term “selfie” is now induct-ed into the dictionary? Well, for all of you that haven’t caught up with the times of today, the definition of “selfie” is a picture taken by you and is most likely geared towards a social networking site. My grand-mother didn’t have Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook back when she was a teen; she didn’t even have a com-puter, let alone a cellular device (old term for cell phone).

Our agenda for the day is very simple. Wake up, go to school, homework (of course,) then text and use so-cial networking sites. What about going down to the baseball field to play Red Rover with all the neighbor-hood kids? Let’s face it, for teens and young adults, the internet is our playground, some would even say salva-tion. I feel that my age group is so use to be able to

hide behind a screen and do many things, good and bad, behind that virtual wall. Our person-to-person rela-tionship skills are lacking quite a bit compared to other age groups. I see it when kids are afraid to answer a question, but can blab away online. Blair Eckel, an eighth grade student said “Face to face communication is lower for our age group because they take advantage of a phone bill they don’t have to pay. Kids think, I can just text my friend because I have my phone right here.” Likewise, when I asked my mom’s opinion on this subject, the same answer came out. She said emo-tion and the right word-choice behind texting is lost when sending virtual messages. I know because dad works with many young kids now and all they want to do is text. You need some talking face to face for a job because little details are lost or forgotten when you get the chance to get back to the person.

Life twenty years ago is so much different than it is today. Even from five years ago. The millennium gen-eration has many quirks to it that make it an interesting age group to see grow up and move with the times. And while everyone is taking selfies with their steaming hot Pumpkin latte from Starbucks, I’m just worried about the Sci-ence assignment I have to hand in tomor-row.

The Urban Handbook

By Ryan Breton

Sarah Fetter

There has always been a recurring argument in schools nowadays about who has the better phone. Then again, which company makes the best phone today? It seems now that the two going head-to-head are Android and Apple, and what better way to get this debate off than to ask some of the Exeter Junior High School what they think?

Sierra Posey, an eighth grader, said, “I like Apple better. It’s just easier to use.” Other students oppose this and say that Android is handier. A student said of Android, “They have pretty cool designs. I like the speed and graphics they have. I think they should make colored phones like Apple, but that would just cause a huge lawsuit.”

According to Yahoo!, the iPhone 5S is the best all-around handset. “Underneath the anodized [to have a coat of metal] aluminum exterior is the first 64-bit smartphone pro-cessor, meaning that it can handle more complex and graphics-heavy applications than any of its Android peers, and it’s fast, very fast. … And it’s all in a package that’s still slim, light, and svelte [slender, suave] enough to hold and use with one hand.” Eighth grader Angela Ginalski says of Apple, “It has easier toggling between apps and the Siri option is great. Overall, it’s more convenient.”

Yahoo! also acknowledg- es Apple’s rival and deems the HTC the best Android. “The HTC One is the closest anyone in the Android community has come to building a device as well-considered and aes- thetically pleasing as an iPhone. And, like an Apple device, it’s not all about good looks; it is a great phone with an intuitive interface and some very neat features…” Ally Finney says, “Android is easier to use and has better graphics. I also noticed the battery lasts longer.”

Other studies from The Christian Science Monitor indicate that iPhone still hasn’t updated their screen size from the compact 3.5-4 inch display, while Androids go up to five-and-a-half. They also show how Android have interac-tive widgets on the home screen that display weather, time, battery life, etc., while iPhones merely have a few extra apps here and there. These are only a few pros and cons between the forever clashing Android and Apple products.

When choosing a phone, it all depends what you’re looking for. There are other brands that are close (like Win-dows phones), but will never quite make it in the technology gossip. If color pleases you, get an iPhone. If you crave compatibility, buy an Android. Both phone brands are sure to please all for as long as technology goes ‘round.

Rose Kershner When we think of Santa Claus we traditionally think of the round man with a long beard that children write letters to asking for toys and other items for Christ-mas. The view of Santa has changed in many ways over time and this year espe-cially. Now, thanks to programs like Letters To Santa anyone can help bring a smile to a child’s face this Christmas. Letters To Santa enables people to chose letters that were mailed to the north pole from needy children and help the kid’s dreams come true by getting the gifts they asked for. Not only are letters written from children being answered but post-al companies this year in particular have found many letters addressed to Santa from parents. These parents are asking for coats for their children and for jobs. These letters too are being answered from strangers who want to help others. So this holiday season while shopping for your friends and family remember that you can not only give gifts as you, but also as the most beloved person ever; Santa.

Technology Tidbit

Everyone Turns to Santa